Mid-morning house fire draws two departments to Estevan village

Oak Bay and Saanich Fire departments responded after multiple calls of smoke coming from a home near the intersection of Cadboro Bay Road and Estevan Avenue shortly before 11 a.m. Monday.

“While our units were on route, our fire chief was in the area and he actually saw the smoke so he was first on scene and confirmed the building was on fire and confirmed the address,” said assistant chief Don Roskelley.

Oak Bay Fire Chief Dave Cockle relayed that smoke was coming from roof vents, that the homeowner was evacuated from the building and no one else was in the building

“That takes a lot of pressure off right off the bat,” Roskelley said.

He took command when the Oak Bay crew arrived and sized up the building.

“We had charred windows on one side of the building off the back yard. We could see that was probably the point of origin of our problem,” Roskelley said.

Two firefighters attacked the blaze in the second level of the split-level open home

“The guys found that there was a mattress on fire, basically the bed was fully involved in fire,” Roskelley said. “It was all pretty much under control within 10 minutes of our arrival.”

The Saanich Fire ladder crew from their hall near the north end of the University of Victoria were also on scene.

“When we send two firefighters in, we want to have two firefighters out as a rapid intervention team,” Roskelley explained. “Their responsibility is our firefighters. Without them, we can’t go in, it’s a WCB regulation.”

A neighbour took in the resident of the home, who was checked out by B.C. Ambulance paramedics. The fire is still under investigation but appears to be accidental. They estimate $100,000 in smoke, fire and water damage.

cvanreeuwyk@oakbaynews.com

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